Assessing Sustainability in Mining Industry: Social License to Operate and Other Economic and Social Indicators in Canaã dos Carajás (Pará, Brazil)

This research assessed sustainability in the mining industry in the municipality of Canaã dos Carajás, Brazilian Amazon, home to the world’s largest iron ore mine. It analysed the mining Social License to Operate (SLO) and constructed Economic and Social Sustainability indicators. The SLO level was identified: Acceptance (3.62; Likert scale), the second level in a four-levelled scale. Procedural fairness, company-community interactions and improvement in infrastructure favoured the SLO, whereas the increasing cost of living and environmental impacts harmed it. Variables related to UN’s SDG were selected from secondary sources. A Principal Component Analysis identified the most significant variables to calculate their weights, constructing the indicators. Positive influence of mining in the long term has been proved in both economic and social dimensions, from 2004/2008 to 2017. Benefits were observed through growth in jobs, taxes and production; improvements in education; social investments from the mining companies; increasing female participation in mining jobs; and safeguard of staff’s rights to unionization and collective negotiation. This research developed economic and social indicators to assess sustainability, and was the first to quantitatively assess the SLO in Brazil. These findings can guide actions to improve sustainability in the mining industry in accordance with the UN’s SDG.